Art and theater reviews covering Seattle to Olympia, Washington, with other art, literature and personal commentary.
If you want to ask a question about any of the shows reviewed here please email the producing venue (theater or gallery) or email me at alec@alecclayton.com. If you post questions in the comment section the answer might get lost.

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

I woke up at five o’clock this morning thinking about my new
book, Visual Liberties. I had a kind of mini-revelation: everything has to
revolve around Molly Ashton. That means, among other things, going back and
writing a new chapter near the beginning of the book that establishes her
character more firmly. Molly is a freshman in college when the book starts. It
is the day before her eighteenth birthday.

I’ve already written an informal and not-quite-finished
synopsis and 44,000 words (118 pages) of the book, but that’s just a start. It
begins with the introduction to and back story of a new character who was not
in the previous novels in the series, John Givens, an artistic genius who is
woefully inept in social situations (he hasn’t been diagnosed with Asperger’s,
but he displays classic symptoms). John becomes Molly’s closest friend. Then
comes the new chapter I woke up thinking about this morning. It is the
afternoon of the day before her birthday. Sunlight is flooding through the
curtain-free window in her dorm room at the Mississippi University for Women
Gulf Coast Campus (a fictional college, there is a college by that name but no
Gulf Coast Campus). Molly has just moved her possessions into the dorm room but
has not put anything away yet. She’s afraid to put anything away because her
new roomie hasn’t shown up yet and she doesn’t know which side of the closet
the roomie will want, which of the identical beds or which of the identical
dressers.

I got on my computer and started writing that scene even
before my first cup of coffee. Now I’m writing this while Gabi is making oatmeal.
I’ll stop writing to eat breakfast and
then I’ll post this and get back to work.

By-the-way, if you don’t know Molly—meaning if you haven’t
read Return to Freedom—she is the daughter of Malcolm and Bitsey Ashton. In R2F
she got involved with an evangelical church and had a crush of the youth
minister, Sonny Staples, and the two of them ran off together and spent a night
in a cabin at a fishing camp on the Mary Walker Bayou. Since Sonny was in his forties
and Molly only seventeen at the time he could have been imprisoned for having
sex with a minor, but they both denied having sex and nobody could prove
otherwise. The book ended without any definitive answer to the question: did
they or didn’t they. But Molly was clearly devastated by whatever happened with
Sonny, and as this new book begins she is still trying to recover.

Friday, July 26, 2013

Haley Bea at
Salon Refu

The Weekly Volcano, July 25, 2013

Artist Susan
Christian has opened her downtown Olympia studio space for exhibitions and
events. She calls the space Salon Refu after the famous Salon de Refusés that
made the French Impressionists famous.

The latest show
in the space is an exhibition of prints by Haley Bea. I never before heard of
her or saw her work, but I was enticed into going by an email from Christian.
She wrote, “(Her prints are) not like anything I recognize, but they're
charming and a little unnerving.” That was enough to send me down there to see
for myself, and I discovered that her monoprints were indeed charming and if
not unnerving at least a little prickly and edgy.

I was
told she is a young artist, and I assume just starting out. I see that she
has a lot of talent and a strong sensitivity to form and surface. I didn’t
count the pieces in the show or take notes but I recall that there were around
a dozen prints, each approximately 18-by-20 inches with abstract forms
delineated by fairly heavy contour lines and a few delicate fine lines, muted
colors and rough, velvety surfaces.

The drawing
is sparse with minimal shapes floating on almost solid backgrounds. The balance
between contrasting and harmonizing forms is impressive.

A few of her
pieces appear to be architectural, like blueprints or drawings of unreal
structures. One group of prints employs collaged sheets of paper and odd shapes
that jut out of the frame in nice ways creating a teetering asymmetrical
balance and nuanced changes in surface quality.

All of her
works are abstract, although many of them hint at recognizable imagery. I see
urchins and anemones, trees and cacti and — perhaps with a stretch of the imagination — human
body parts. There are indefinable aspects to her art that remind me a little of
Paul Klee and, a little closer to home, of Chauney Peck, a Seattle artist
originally from Olympia whom I have greatly admired for years.

The show runs
through July with a closing party July 28 from 7-10 p.m., and will continue by
appointment only through August.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Every summer since 2004 I have published my Critic’s Choice,
my choices for the best in South Sound theater. This year I am going to do it
differently. Since The News Tribune has cut back on the number of my theater
reviews they publish, I have not reviewed as many plays in Tacoma and Lakewood
as I used to, and I have had to completely stopped reviewing shows in smaller
venues in places like Puyallup and Gig Harbor. I live in Olympia and cannot
afford the commute for reviewing plays I don’t get paid for. I reviewed only 38
plays this season. In the not too distant past I typically reviewed 50 to 60
plays in a season.

Picking the best actor or best director would not be fair to
the theaters whose performances I did not review. So, instead of ranking I am honoring
those actors, directors, set designers and so forth whose work is worthy of
special recognition.

Jana Tyrrell turned
in an award-worthy performance in “Next to Normal” at Capital Playhouse, which
was directed by her husband, Brian Tyrrell. This stylized and hard-hitting
musical-drama was made surreally beautiful by Bruce Haasl’s set and lighting by Matt Lawrence.

Kristin Burch electrified
audiences with her portrayals of Nancy in “Oliver” at Capital Playhouse and as
Roxie Hart in “Chicago” at Tacoma Musical Playhouse.

Bruce Haasl as Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar at Harlequin Productions. Set by Linda Whitney

Bruce Haasl knocked
my socks off four years ago as Judas in Jesus in Jesus Christ
Superstar at Capital Playhouse, and did it again as Jesus in the same show at Harlequin.
Put this guy on stage, any stage, and he owns it.

Jesus Christ
Superstar at Harlequin and Next to
Normal at Capital Playhouse both took South Sound musical theater to a
higher level. (I’ve heard that the same can be said for Ragtime, now at Tacoma Musical Playhouse, but I did not get to see
it.

Deya Ozburn is the South Sound’s Meryl Streep. She grabbed our hearts and wouldn’t
let go as Martha in “The Children’s Hour” at Lakewood
Playhouse.

The Children’s Hour at Lakewood Playhouse was as riveting and heartfelt as a
drama can be. Teen actor Kira Zinck’s
portrayal of the hateful Mary Tilford was breathtaking. Zinck is a young actor
to watch for.

Kira Zinck and Carol Richmond in The Children's Hour. Photo by Dean Lapin

Joy Luck Club at
Tacoma Little Theatre, directed by David
Hsieh, was a wonderful show with a large ensemble cast and unique staging.

Ingrid Goebel’s comic
stylings in The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood at Olympia Family Theatre
clearly puts her in the rank of best comic actors.

Olympia Family
Theatreis a new theater company that has taken big
risks with world premieres of locally written plays and has blended professional-level
adult and children’s theater in the most exciting and entertaining ways. Kudos
to OFT for their hilarious The
Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood and their world premiere of Cinder Edna by playwright and composer Ted Ryle, adapted the play from the
children’s picture book by Ellen Jackson, and their world premiere of The Abolitionist’s Wife by Sky Meyers and Barbara Gibson. Ryle,
Meyers and Gibson are all local playwrights.

Kate Hayes’ knockout performance as The Artful Dodger
in “Oliver” at Capital Playhouse puts her in the ranks of the best youth actors
in the South Sound area if not anywhere.

The great Scott C.
Brown proves that Fringe Theatre is
still alive and vital in his disturbing portrayal a hostage in Lee
Blessing'sTwo Rooms, which was performed in
both Seattle and a one-night-only performance at Lakewood Playhouse.

Pug Bujeaud’s originality of vision as a director was
something extraordinary in the presentation of not one but two versions of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir
Dogs, with separate ensemble casts, one all-male and the other all-female.

Linda Whitney is superlative in so many ways. Her set
design and direction of Jesus Christ Superstar at Harlequin was phenomenal
and was aided by outstanding lighting and video by Amy Chisman. The work of the tech gods on this production was comparable
to that of much larger theaters with bigger budgets.

Special recognition goes to director Marilyn Bennett and the cast and crew of The Importance of Being Earnest for outstanding staging and
ensemble acting.

Musical reviews, mostly bombastic rock shows have become
standard fare at both Centerstage! Theatre in Federal Way and Harlequin in
Olympia. This year’s It’s Only Rock and
Soul at Centerstage with performances by DeWayne Andrews Jr., Bobby Barnts, Stacie Calkins, Trista Duvall, Jesse
Smith, Ashanti Mangum, Meg McLynn and Zack
Wheeler was the kind of musical event I wish I could have videotaped to enjoy
regularly at home.

OK, I said I wasn’t going to do a “Best Of” this year, but
how about the best musical to play at two different theaters. That honor goes
to the smashingly delightful Legally
Blonde at Tacoma Musical Playhouse and Capital Playhouse, starring Leah Wickstrom at TMP and Bailey Boyd at Capital.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Political intrigue and murder on the Capitol Campus

Ryan Holmberg and Katy Dixon

Rick Pearlstein and Ryan Holmberg

Kate Arvin and Morgan Picton. Photos by David Nowitz

Animal Fire Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park has moved from
Priest Point Park to the Washington State Capital Campus. This year’s
production is the historical play Julius Caesar directed by Jenny Greenlee.

Near the Korean War Memorial stands a maze of
platforms and wall-like structures that was once a water feature but hasn’t
been used as such for decades. It makes for an ideal stage for a play set in
ancient Rome. Actors are able to enter and exit from a myriad of directions and
dramatically climb over and about the many layered structure. The setting and
lighting courtesy of the sun provided for a happy byproduct of an outdoor
performance that I was able to enjoy—at one point in particular opening night
when the sun happened to be low on the horizon as Anthony (Kate Arvin) was
giving a speech from one of the higher platforms. She was majestic against a
blue sky and cast a strong shadow that resulted in a scene more dramatic than
it could have been if staged indoors with professional lighting. The same
setting was also ideal for the appearance of the spirit of Caesar (Scott
Douglas) high and distant against the sky after his death.

Intrigue, ambition, jealousy and murder have been integral to
politics as long as men have sought power, and no writer has looked at it with
such honesty, insight and poetry as William Shakespeare. The plotting and the
murder of Caesar resonates in today’s world as much as it did 400 years ago
when Shakespeare wrote the play.

Animal Fire Theatre presents this play in modern garb with
knives for swords, and in a refreshing twist with women playing two of the
pivotal roles that have traditionally been played by men: Anthony and Brutus
(Katy Dixon). The gender role reversals seem natural. In fact, when Anthony
speaks of her love for Caesar and Brutus speaks of her love for Cassius (Ryan
Holmberg) it takes on a romantic cast that is not there when they are all men,
and it seems even more pertinent and real. I do have to admit, however, that
since I know at least some of the words and tend to mentally say them along
with the actors it is somewhat jarring when, for instance, Anthony keeps repeating
that Brutus was an honorable woman. It doesn’t seem unnatural or wrong; it’s
just jarring to my expectations.

Douglas is physically well cast as Caesar. He has a majestic
appearance and the deep, resonant voice of a man so proud as to think of himself
as a god.

The leading roles are those of Anthony, Brutus and Cassius—and
Arvin, Dixon and Holmberg are each riveting in these roles. Holmberg slides
effortlessly in and out of snide and tender remarks, and fierce anger with
appropriate changes of voice, especially when he is mocking others. And
speaking of fierceness, if anyone thinks women cannot play strong warriors,
Arvin and Dixon’s performances should once and for all put that notion to rest.

The supporting cast was very good. Morgan Picton played
strong roles as a Trebonius, Lucilius and the soothsayer (if I had been Caesar,
his “Beware the Ides of March” would have scared the hell out of me). Tim
Samland portrayed Decius Brutus and Octavius with just the right touch of
madness. Rick Pearlstein was also a standout in multiple roles, most notably as
Casca.

Come prepared. Portable lawn & camp chairs or pillows are
recommended for the two and a half hour show with no intermission, and mosquito
repellent may be a good idea although we had no need on opening night. And if
our typical Olympia weather holds up during the run of the play you should
probably come in summer clothes but bring an overshirt. And know that there
will probably be distractions from overhead airplanes, bicyclists and
skateboarders. Just take the distractions in stride and pay attention to the
play. The play’s the thing.

Performances are scheduled to run Thursdays through Sundays,
through Aug. 5. All performances will be at 6:30 P.M. Information about how to
park for free or use Intercity Transit’s Dash Shuttle is available on the
company’s website: www.animalfiretheatre.com.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

The latest works by Ron Hinton (not to be confused with Ron Hinson) at Childhood’s End are more
dynamic than anything of his I’ve seen before. At least the wall-hanging
sculptures. The free-standing pieces on pedestals are more of the same stuff
I’ve seen from him I the past — angular abstract forms in a variety of metals
that depend for interest more on color and texture contrasts and etched surface
patterns than on form. With a few exceptions these are too fussy for my taste,
but the pieces hanging on the walls soar dramatically. They also feature
texture and color contrasts but depend more on form, which to my way of
thinking is what sculpture, particular abstract sculpture, should be all about.
They are sheets of copper, steel, bronze and other metals that wrap around each
other in shroud-like forms and seem to be about to take off like birds in
flight. Many are hung diagonally to enhance the sense of flight.

Hinton has about 25 pieces in the show including some small
metal jewelry items in a display case. The best by far are the wall pieces. One
of my favorites is “Finnel,” patinated bronze, copper and stainless steel. It
is a unified and simple form in tones of silver, green and deep blue. The best
of the standing works is “Tatlin’s Tower,” a tribute to Vladimir Tatlin’s
famous “Monument to the Third International.” Like “Finnel,” it is a simple and
self-contained form in beautifully muted colors.

Also showing are a number of nice little pastels of people and
homey scenes by Barbara Noonan. They’re pretty traditional and typical, but a
couple of them stand out. “Surf Play” is a dramatic picture of an old man at
play in the surf with his figure strategically located in the upper left corner
of the picture. “Summer Swing” is an unoccupied tire swing with cast shadow. It
has a Hooper-esque feeling of loneliness. Noonan’s best work is “Shadow and
Pink,” which is a bird’s eye view of a little girl in a pink dress tightrope
walking the crack in a sidewalk. The great thing about this one is the way if
comments on balance both in terms of placement of the figure in the
two-dimensional space of the format and how it illustrationally comments on the
girl’s precarious balance. This is a little gem of a painting.

There are also some funny and playful acrylics by Ann
Schreivogl. Her “Once Upon a Time” is a delightful picture of a girl with big
cartoon feet reading a book. One of the better paintings in the show is
Schreivogl’s “Glance.” It is a standing figure on a beach amidst a profusion of
elliptical dots that play in a lovely way with spatial peek-a-boo.

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About Me

I am an artist and writer living in Olympia, Washington. I write an art review column, a theater review column and arts features for the Weekly Volcano, a community theater review column for The (Tacoma) News Tribune and regular arts features for OLY ARTS (Olympia).
My published novels are: This Is Me, Debbi, David; Tupelo; The Freedom Trilogy (a three-book series consisting of The Backside of Nowhere, Return to Freedom and Visual Liberties); Reunion at the Wetside; The Wives of Marty Winters; Imprudent Zeal and Until the Dawn. I've also published a book on art, As If Art Matters. All are available on amazon.com.
I grew up in Tupelo and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and have been living in the Pacific Northwest since 1988 where I am active in many progressive organizations such as PFLAG (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).